


loving you so much, but from so far away

by inklingchild



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Aromantic Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep, Aromantic Gray | Crackle (Carmen Sandiego), Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep - Freeform, F/M, Gray | Crackle (Carmen Sandiego) - Freeform, Season 4 Spoilers, can you tell, i am not hiding it, i am projecting so hard, i bet you can, i repeat SEASON 4 SPOILERS, red crackle, red crackle but qpr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28805388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inklingchild/pseuds/inklingchild
Summary: Graham Calloway, formally known as Crackle, loved Carmen Sandiego.Just not how everyone thought he did.
Relationships: Gray | Crackle/Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 17
Kudos: 123





	loving you so much, but from so far away

It had been a week since he had been discharged. He had meant what he told Chief, that he didn’t want to complicate her life, but…

He wished that he was able to see her one last time, to tell her that it wasn’t her fault, that he didn’t blame her. He knew how she worked. He knew that would plague her soul for years to come. 

He wanted to hold her one last time.

As he lounged back in his chair, at the cafe in front of the Sydney Opera House, he thought about Carmen. He thought about the spunky little tween who yanked him by his collar and put him in his place. He thought about the girl who used to kick his ass every day until he tossed her onto the ground and all she did was smile and kick his legs out from under him. He thought about the enraged student, so confident in her own ability that she was determined that an esteemed faculty member purposely failed her.

He thought about the woman in red who stole his heart right along with all the other treasures he has tried to plunder along the years. He took another sip from his cup of coffee. He thought about how it wasn’t the love that his parents had shared, or the love that his old classmates, the Mole and the Goat, had carried. 

It was different.

He loved her, there was no doubt.

But it was different.

They talked about that a lot, surprisingly, back at the Academy. Carmen revealed that she had never been around other people her age, how the only people she ever saw were Academy kids and faculty members. How she had never developed a crush, but never felt it was odd. Coach Brunt hardly discussed the subject, only that love made you weak, that all you needed was family. VILE was family.

He mused aloud about how never feeling in love wasn’t something he really thought about, just thinking that other kids his age were probably just distracted. Too spoiled with a roof over their head and food on their plates, that they were eager to find things to fill their crimeless lives. It wasn’t till he was out of VILE, after he lost his memory, he found a word for it. This complete lack of attraction to women. Or men. Or anyone in between.

Aromantic.

If he were able to have one last conversation with Carmen Sandiego, he would tell her about the term. Whether or not she would particularly enjoy the name was up to her; she wasn’t one to allow other people to give her a label, preferring to do what she pleased. He liked that about her. He would tell her that too, that he was happy that she chose her own path.

That she didn’t let his decisions hurt her.

Which brought him back to his original train of thought.

He wanted to see her. He probably never would again, but one day, he hoped.

One day he’d tell her everything.

**Author's Note:**

> am sobbing brb  
> i hated the ending of season 4 but i really did enjoy it. i just wished that graham and carmen could have had one last conversation.
> 
> please check out my tumblr @the-inky-isles!! thank to @teliangel from tumblr and koko from the laoft discord for listening to me infodump <333


End file.
